Gates back on top of Forbes' billionaire rankings

NEW YORK (AP) - Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is once again the world's richest person.
Forbes magazine announced its ranking of the world's billionaires Monday. Gates, who led the list for 15 of the past 20 years, won the spot back from Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who had topped the list for the past four years. Gates' net worth is estimated at $76 billion; Slim Helu follows at $72 billion.

Spanish clothing magnate Amancio Ortega, known for the Zara retail chain, maintained his No. 3 spot and came out ahead of famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett, who ranked fourth. Larry Ellison of Oracle came in fifth.

Forbes says a record 1,645 billionaires made the list this year, with an average net worth of $4.7 billion. That's up from 1,426 billionaires last year with a net worth of $4.2 billion. Total net worth of this year's list was $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion last year.

The magazine said that 1,080 of the billionaires were self-made, 207 inherited their wealth and 352 inherited a portion but are still growing it.

The largest net worth gainer on the list was Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who more than doubled his fortune to $28.5 billion as the value of his company's stock soared. He ranks 21st on the list.

The social media giant helped bring a few notable newcomers to the list, including Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who recently sold their business to Facebook for $19 billion.

Forbes said 268 billionaires were new to the list, beating out a prior high of 226 newcomers in 2008. And a record number of women made the list this year, with 172 women joining, up 25 percent from last year.

Altogether 100 people dropped out of the rankings, while 16 passed away.

The U.S. was the country with the greatest number of billionaires at 492, followed by China with 152 and Russia with 111. Billionaires from four new countries joined, adding Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda to the geographic mix.

Oscars by the Numbers: 33 Fascinating Academy Awards Statistics

Unless you're prediction-loving, number-crunching wizard Nate Silver, you probably find statistics pretty boring. But stats concerning the Academy Awards have always been fascinating, mostly because the Oscars are just plain weird, and riddled with anomalies.

The ceremony got its

start in the late 1920s, when movies were just making their transition into sound, and early nominees and categories reflected the sheer chaos of those halcyon days of what would eventually become Hollywood's golden age. (Though, of course, any film aficionado worth his/her salt would have a strong opinion about the exact dates that that age entailed.)

As the Oscars tradition continued, the awards became a bit more traditional themselves, settling into a predictable pattern of narratives that have stayed relatively consistent to this day. But there are always idiosyncrasies hiding in the woodwork, and the Academy Awards have them in spades. Here, we've collected some of the most distinctive statistics surrounding the Awards' first 85 years of existence to give you a better impression of Oscar's past, present, and future.

If Sunday's ceremony runs long -- and statistically speaking, it most certainly will -- you can break out some of these facts to entertain Oscar party guests bored to tears by the Best Actress winner's inevitably long-winded acceptance speech.

0
Number of competitive Oscars won by a host of high-profile actors, actresses, and filmmakers, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Ian McKellan, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Bette Midler, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and George Lucas, among many others.

1
Number of dollars for which an Oscar winner or his estate must offer to sell his statuette back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before selling the statuette on his own. Oscars awarded after 1950 are bound by this agreement, and statuettes are considered property of the Academy unless it waives its ownership. Oscar Welles's 1941 Oscar for "Citizen Kane" was sold at a 2011 auction for over $800,000.

2
Number of words in the shortest Oscars acceptance speech ever, delivered by Patty Duke in 1963 after winning the Best Supporting Actress statuette for "The Miracle Worker." Her message? Simply, "Thank you."

3
Number of films that have won all of the "Big Five" awards (picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay). They are: "It Happened One Night" (1934), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), and "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991).

3
Number of animated features that have been nominated for Best Picture. 1991's "Beauty and the Beast" was the first to earn this distinction, followed later by "Up" (2009) and "Toy Story 3" (2010).

4
Highest number of acting Oscars won by a single person, a record held by Katharine Hepburn. She won Best Actress statuettes for: "Morning Glory" (1933), "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), "The Lion in Winter" (1968), and "On Golden Pond" (1982).

4
The most Best Director wins by one person, a record held by John Ford since 1953, when he won his last statuette for "The Quiet Man."

5.5
Length in minutes of the longest Oscar acceptance speech ever given, a distinction held by Greer Garson, who won Best Actress in 1943 for "Mrs. Miniver."

8
Highest number of acting nominations without a win, a record held by the late Peter O'Toole. He was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2002.

10
Number of musicals that have won Best Picture. The last one to do it was 2002's "Chicago," which ended a 34-year drought. 1968's "Oliver!" preceded "Chicago"'s win, but the Academy took a hard turn away from song-and-dance features with its subsequent Best Picture selection: "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), which remains the only X-rated film to claim Oscar's biggest prize.

11
Highest number of Oscars won by a single film. Three movies are tied for this distinction: "Ben-Hur" (1959), "Titanic" (1997), and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). "Return of the King" won all 11 awards for which it was nominated, another Academy Awards record.

11
Highest number of nominations for a film that did not win any Oscars. Two films share that dubious distinction: "The Turning Point" (1977) and "The Color Purple" (1985).

12
The highest number of Best Director nominations received by one person. William Wyler holds that record, converting three of those nominations into wins.

12
The number of Oscar categories that have been eliminated over the years. They include Best Dance Direction, Best Short Film -- Live Action -- Two Reels, and Best Unique and Artistic Quality of a Production. (That latter wordy category was part of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, and ditched the following year.)

15
Length in minutes of the first -- and to this day, shortest -- Academy Awards ceremony, held on May 16, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. Awards (the nickname "Oscar" didn't come into being for several years) were handed out in 12 categories. Today, Oscars are awarded in 24 categories, and ceremonies typically run three hours on average. (Many far exceed that running time.)

17
Highest number of hosts for one Oscars telecast. For several years, the Academy used a gimmick dubbed "Friends of Oscar" that featured a roster of rotating hosts for each ceremony. The broadcast featuring the most "Friends" took place on April 7, 1970, and included stars like Bob Hope, John Wayne, Barbra Streisand, Fred Astaire, Clint Eastwood, James Earl Jones, and Elizabeth Taylor. Packing in so much star power paid off for the Academy: the broadcast was the Awards' highest-rated telecast of all time.

18
Highest number of acting nominations for a single person, a record held by Meryl Streep. Streep broke the previous record of 12, set by Katharine Hepburn. Jack Nicholson is the most nominated male actor, currently tied with Hepburn's 12.

19
Highest number of Oscar ceremonies hosted by one person. Bob Hope is the champ (he also hosted the first televised Oscars in 1953), with Billy Crystal a distant second with nine hosting gigs.

20
Most nominations for a single person in any category without a win. Sound re-recording mixer Kevin O'Connell began his unsuccessful quest for an Oscar with his first nomination in 1983; his most recent letdown came in 2007.

21
Composer Victor Young has O'Connell beat in the most depressing distinction category: Young was nominated 21 times before finally winning an Oscar for 1956's "Around the World in 80 Days," earning him the title of most nominations before a win. Unfortunately, Young died before the Oscar ceremony took place, and the award was granted posthumously.

22
Number of times that the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars have gone to different films. The most recent split came in 2013, when Ang Lee won Best Director for "Life of Pi" and "Argo" (directed by non-nominee Ben Affleck) took Best Picture. For more analysis of this Oscar anomaly, check out Moviefone's extensive coverage here.

22
Total number of Oscars won by Walt Disney, the most ever for a single person. He was also awarded an additional four honorary Oscars, and holds the record for most Oscars won in one year by a single person (four). The most Oscars won by a living person is eight, with composer Alan Menken claiming the title.

35
Highest number of nominations earned by a woman in any category. Costume designer Edith Head holds that title; she won eight statuettes throughout her career.

45
Number of seconds that Academy rules stipulate acceptance speeches must not run over. (This rule, established in 2010, is broken multiple times every year.)

59
Highest number of nominations for a single person in any category. Over-achiever Walt Disney holds that title. Composer John Williams is the most-nominated living person, with 49 nods under his belt.

94
Length in minutes of the shortest Best Picture winner ever, "Marty" (1955). Brevity seems to be a theme for this classic flick: the 1956 ceremony where it claimed the top prize was the second-shortest Oscars ever, lasting just 90 minutes.

224
Length in minutes of the longest Best Picture winners ever: a tie between "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "Gone With the Wind" (1939). But the latter has a slight edge when its score is factored in: including its overture, intermission music, and exit music, "Gone" clocks in at 238 minutes.

263
Length in minutes of the longest Academy Awards ceremony ever, which took place on March 24, 2002. The historic night -- hosted by Whoopi Goldberg -- saw Halle Berry become the first African-American to win Best Actress (for "Monster's Ball"), while fellow black actors Denzel Washington and Sidney Poitier also picked up statuettes for Best Actor and an honorary Oscar, respectively.

2,894
Number of total Oscar statuettes awarded from 1929 to 2011, in 1,853 categories.

6,000
The approximate number of voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which determines the Oscar nominees and winners. It's made up of separate branches composed of different film disciplines, including acting, writing, and directing. 276 people were invited to join the Academy in 2013, though the number of new members changes annually.

31.76 million
Number of viewers for the lowest-rated Oscars telecast ever, which took place on February 24, 2008. Despite the Academy celebrating its 80th awards, the show pulled in a dismal 18.66 share of the ratings, thanks in part to its low-wattage winners. (Best Picture champ "No Country for Old Men" wasn't a big box office draw, prompting fewer viewers to tune in.)

57.25 million
Number of viewers for the second-highest rated Oscars telecast ever, when "Titanic" took home Best Picture and Billy Crystal hosted on March 23, 1998. The exact number of viewers for the highest rated ceremony -- which took place on April 7, 1970, when "Midnight Cowboy" won the top prize -- are not available, but the program pulled in a whopping 43.40 share of the Nielsen ratings. (In comparison, 1998's ceremony had a 35.32 share.)

1 billion
Number of worldwide viewers that the Academy has claimed in the past watch the Oscars every year. This number has been widely disputed, though, and with the recent trend in waning viewership, it seems even more suspect today.

LeBron requested to switch to clear mask by NBA

MIAMI (AP) - LeBron James dispensed with his menacing black mask at the NBA's request and switched to a clear protective cover for the Miami Heat's game Saturday against the Orlando Magic.
The black mask made its debut Thursday in James' first game since he broke his nose. He said he received word from league officials Friday that they wanted him to instead wear something that would allow opponents to see his face.
"It's not a league rule, but it's the league's request that you don't wear the black one," James said before Saturday's game. "The reasons they told me didn't make sense to me, but I'm just a player. I will abide by the request."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke Friday with Nick Arison, son of the team owner, about the matter. James said he didn't want to make a big issue of it.
"I'm good with the NBA," James said with a smile. "I am not against the NBA. I had a request, and I fulfilled it."
Teammate Dwyane Wade said he warned James the league would give the black mask a thumbs-down.
"I told him after Thursday's game, 'You have fun, because it ain't happening the next game,'" Wade said. "It was fun. A lot of attention, a lot of T-shirts are going to be made, a lot of Instagram posts. Now we move on to something else."
James agreed that the black mask was a marketing success, with feedback he received universally positive. He said he may give the mask to charity so it can be auctioned off.
"Everyone loved it," James said. "I got stuff, from 'You look very menacing,' to 'You look like a superhero,' to 'You look amazing.' A little bit of everything. No one told me it was terrible."
Not even league officials.
"I think they loved it as well," James said.

Inside the Oscars: a Seat-Filler’s Perspective

Just who are those unrecognizable Oscar audience members sandwiched between the stars this Sunday? Technical category nominees, for starters. Also, the close friends and family members of the celebrities, and seat fillers—the unsung heroes of each Academy Awards, whose job it is to make sure that not a single Dolby Theatre seat is left open when actors and actresses excuse themselves from the three-hour awards show for the bar or loo. (The responsibility is even more nerve-wracking considering that all of the literal seat-jumping and aisle-sprinting is completed in formal wear.) To get a better understanding of the behind-the-scenes responsibilities of these glammed-up Oscar gophers, we tracked down a seat-filler from last year’s Seth MacFarlane-hosted ceremony. She agreed to tell us all about the application process, job peculiarities, and celebrity elbow-rubbing potential in exchange for anonymity.
The application process: Our mole tells us that prospective seat-fillers must submit a passport and basic job-application information, in addition to photos of the evening wear they’ve purchased or selected, in the chance they are chosen. She estimates that 300 seat-fillers were hired for the evening, most of whom knew someone “connected to the Oscars . . . family friends of staffers, industry insiders, etc.”
Dress code: Basically, “You have to look like you’re a guest at the Oscars.” Men have been known to buy new suits. Women buy dresses for the occasion and have their hair and makeup professionally applied, as if they were invited to the show as official guests. “The difference,” our mole tells us, between the actual guests and the seat-fillers, however, is easy to spot at the end of the evening. Since seat-fillers have to start at around nine A.M. “they don’t look as top-notch as they originally did” by midnight.
Strict rules: “We weren't allowed to talk to anyone other than other seat-fillers,” our source recalls. Which means that even if you are seated next to Jennifer Lawrence, who you know, deep down, was put on this planet to be your best friend, you cannot even squeak hi to her. You’re not a short-term substitute date for guests—you’re more of a mannequin meant to make it seem as though audience members haven’t ditched the show for the bar. Speaking of which . . .
Alcohol consumption: “Drinking was strictly off-limits, though I snuck some champagne!” our mole tells us. And although seat-fillers are strongly discouraged from venturing off to the bar area, our bold seat-filler says, “I tried to sneak around a bit. Amy Adams was [at the bar], and [so was] Steven Spielberg. I tried not to gawk, but it was hard. They’re so shiny and pretty.”
Seating assignments: Most seat-fillers line up during the ceremony, waiting patiently for their turn to run for their lives during commercial breaks for a free seat. Others, however, are situated in the same seat throughout the entirety of the show. The reason? Because of camera equipment staged throughout the theater, there are some seats with obstructed views—seats that an actual nominee or legitimate guest would never want. Seat-fillers are placed here to sit, somewhat blindly, throughout the whole show.
Pulling rank: While there are a lot of first-timers each year, there are also veteran seat-fillers who feel as though their experience entitles them to verbally abuse newbies. Recalling the strangest thing that happened during her seat-filling duty, our source recalls, “These two ‘professional’ seat-fillers who have done this for the past 15 years yelled at me for stealing an appetizer before the show started!”
On-camera instruction: What is a seat-filler to do in the off chance that the camera pans to their section during the show? Our mole reveals that seat-fillers are expected to be “very stoic, like a model,” as to not rouse any at-home viewers’ suspicions that they do not know the person they are sitting beside.
Compensation: The experience, which, from nine A.M. to midnight, encompassed a full 14 hours, was considered volunteer work. Which means that seat-fillers are paid in Oscar access and once-in-a-lifetime proximity to stars, rather than money.

Julie Delpy Slams The Academy As 'White Men Over 70 Who Need Money'

Complaints about the Oscars' gender disparities are in no short supply, even from the nominees themselves. But "Before Midnight" co-star Julie Delpy, who's a Best Original Screenplay contender for penning the movie's script with Ethan Hawke and director Richard Linklater, thinks the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' rich, white, male-dominated voting body is so far gone that she doesn't even care.
"We have the Golden Globes. If you could see it, you wouldn't believe that there's anything good about it. The same goes for the Oscars," Delpy told So Film, via the Irish Independent. "It's 90 percent white men over 70 who need money because they haven't done anything in a long time. You just need to give them two or three presents and they're in your pocket. It doesn't mean anything to me, so I don't really care if there are women in the selection process."
The actress' candid remarks are a departure from much of what's said about the state of Oscar voting. A recent New York Film Academy infographic reported a 5:1 disparity in men working in film compared to women, while a Lee & Low Books chart spotlighted the paltry 23 percent of the Academy that's female.
Delpy also bemoaned what she sees as the declining state of independent cinema, which she attributes to Hollywood heavyweights like Harvey Weinstein. "I think they love cinema, but they also like to take a movie and give it an added value, then kill everything left behind," she said. "This has a lot to do with the Oscars. In the '90s, there were real independent movies, but they have slowly been crushed by the majors. The minute they take over something, they crush it. ... Every time I've become a part of the Hollywood mainstream, it's been crap! Let's be honest: 90 percent of movies made in Hollywood are crap."

A night to celebrate the global movement for humanity

By JESSICA HERNDON

Days before the Academy Awards celebrates the finest in film, unite4:good honored the success of individuals serving the global movement for humanity, from stars to everyday visionaries.

Hosted by comedian Andy Samberg, the fete, which was also presented by Variety, brought together figures like Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the formal dinner and awards gala on the Sony Pictures Studio lot on Thursday evening.

"I would like to thank Variety for coming up with another award because our stiletto heels spend far too many nights during the year in their little silk bags," joked Louis-Dreyfus, poking fun at the frenzy of events that cluttered the weeks leading up to Hollywood's biggest night on March 2.

Louis-Dreyfus received the creative commitment in television award for her work with Heal the Bay, an environmental advocacy non-profit dedicated to making Southern California coasts clean.

Forest Whitaker presented the unity recognition award to Bill Clinton, who gave the evening's keynote address. Clinton joked that he was the warm-up act for Sean Penn, who later presented De Niro with the creative commitment in film award and Clear Channel president John Sykes the media social visionary award.

In his address, Clinton mentioned the positive influence of the late Nelson Mandela and Lebanon's perseverance to support his central point: Unite to survive and thrive.

Steve Coogan, who starred in the Oscar-nominated "Philomena," presented the real Philomena Lee with the everyday hero award.

After receiving his honor, De Niro handed "his partner in crime," Scorsese, the creative conscience award for his work on film preservation through The Film Foundation. "Are you kidding," joked De Niro. "The creative conscience award? Have you not seen 'Wolf of Wall Street?'"

Scorsese said that since his foundation's inception in 1990, around 640 films have been restored and preserved.

For her work as a UNICEF ambassador, singer Selena Gomez was awarded the young humanitarian award. She lauded fellow do-gooder, Demi Lovato, who received the evening's young luminary honor, saying, "I am so thankful for you for inspiring me every day. We're here at 21 years old using our voice to help this generation, though sometimes I feel like we're the only ones holding down the fort."

Both Lovato and music visionary recipient, Alicia Keys, performed at the affair. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., William H. Macy, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Longoria and Wilmer Valderrama were presenters.

10 things you may not know about the Oscars

You may watch the Academy Awards every year, but that doesn't make you an expert! Here are a few facts to boost your Oscar knowledge and impress your viewing party pals:

1.) During the metal shortage of WWII, the Oscar statues were made of plaster

2.) Winners are not allowed to sell their award...unless they sell it back to the Academy for $1

3.) Seat-fillers get paid $125 to make the theater look filled to capacity

4.) The Hurt Locker is the lowest grossing film to win Best Picture

5.) Bob Hope hosted the award ceremony 18 times

6.) Billy Crystal has hosted 9 times

7.) The only tie for Best Actress happened in 1968 between Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn

8.) Marlon Brando refused his 1973 Oscar for Best Actor

9.) There has only been one Oscar winner actually named 'Oscar'

10.) William Holden and Alfred Hitchcock hold the records for shortest acceptance speech